Entrepreneurs compete for EnterPrize dollars

Kelley Sims told a panel of local business leaders Wednesday afternoon how his Amarillo-based clearing company Brush Eaters plans to grow, bringing dollars into the Texas Panhandle from outside the area and buying equipment from local businesses.

Buying equipment was a key component of his presentation. Sims would like to see judges grant Brush Eaters $100,000 to go toward a Vermeer horizontal grinder.

“I thought that it went well,” Sims said of the presentation he gave as part of West Texas A&M University’s EnterPrize Challenge, a yearly competition for entrepreneurs to compete for up to $100,000 each. “I hope so.”

Representatives from seven local businesses presented their business proposals Wednesday at the West Texas A&M University Enterprise Center, 2300 N. Western St., for a chance to claim a share of $500,000 and put their plans into action.

A panel of five independent judges selected the seven finalists from a pool of 15 participants, Enterprise Center director of marketing Cori Burns said. Each finalist gave a 10- to 12-minute oral presentation of a business plan and answered questions from judges for 15 minutes Wednesday.

The contest money comes from the Amarillo Economic Development Corp., which is funded with local sales tax dollars. Each winner can get up to $100,000, Burns said.

In each of the previous two years’ competitions, judges decided to distribute the entire $500,000 among six business plans, she said.

Since the contest started in 1996, 52 businesses have received EnterPrize funding, and about 75 percent of those companies are still in business, she said.

All EnterPrize award recipients will have the chance to join the Enterprise Center’s business incubation program, where they receive business coaching from Enterprise Center staff.

Elliot McKinney, president of third-party health care negotiating firm OccuNet and one of the EnterPrize judges, did not say which presentations were his favorite Wednesday, but said they all showed promise.

“What I’m listening for is … Do they know their product? Do they know their market? Is it profitable?” McKinney said.

“Hearing them and listening to them tell their story and then asking questions … you get a lot of insight into how they think and how they’re approaching their markets and the competition that they face,” McKinney said.

McKinney said the biggest challenge for any local entrepreneur is finding investors, as opportunities to invest in start-ups are abundant, while capital is hard to come by.

Sims said the process of applying for EnterPrize funds and preparing to present a straightforward business plan is valuable whether or not his efforts hit pay dirt.

“I think it’s a very valuable process to go through regardless … of funds,” Sims said.

“Going through that process forces you to ask questions.”

Judges must come to a unanimous decision on how to divide the $500,000 Wednesday, Burns said. Last year, judges awarded four businesses $100,000 each while two others received $50,000 each. Enterprise Center officials will announce the winners April 10, she said.